SAFAR 2016: A Celebration of Contemporary Arab Cinema

SAFAR: A Celebration of Contemporary Arab Cinema14-18 September 2016

The only festival in the UK solely focused on programming Arab cinema, Safar returns to the ICA for its third edition with a selection of UK premieres ranging from Morocco all the way to Kuwait. Organised by The Arab British Centre and curated by Rasha Salti, this year’s festival will celebrate contemporary films that are singularly defiant of stereotypes, social taboos and self-censorship.

In the past decade, an increasing number of Arab films have received critical and popular acclaim, earned awards worldwide, competed in the most prestigious festivals and were nominated for the foreign-language Oscar award. Potentially the herald of a new golden age, these remarkable accomplishments are a testament to the vitality, versatility and creativity of filmmakers, screenwriters, producers, cinematographers, composers, editors and actors. In spite of censorship, the most admirable virtue of filmmakers and film professionals is their fearless and tenacious safeguarding of film’s artistic mission, its ability to capture aspirations and forge a new poetic language.